“There is certainly a trend towards people being more accepting of the fact that they are experiencing symptoms of mental illness,” Puyat said. “People are becoming more open to themselves experiencing these issues and to other people experiencing those issues.”

He added while that’s a positive, the lack of support services in the province is cause for concern.

“We are actually falling behind much of Canada and the world, although we have one of the highest life expectancies in the world, some of our mental health and our emotional health has gone down,” said Dr. Henry.

She said people over the age of 45 are more likely to suffer.

Henry was speaking at BC Children’s Hospital Friday morning during her yearly report on the health of British Columbians.